''Dalea purpurea'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known as purple prairie clover.''Dalea purpurea'' at NatureServe.org
Retrieved 11-25-2011. Native to central north America, purple prairie clover is a relatively common member of the Great Plains and prairie ecosystems. It blooms in the summer with dense spikes of bright purple flowers that attract many species of insects.

Distribution

It is native to central North America, where it occurs from central Canada to the southeastern and southwestern United States, except for the east and west coasts. It is a common and widespread plant within its range, especially on the Great Plains. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Description

''Dalea purpurea'' is a perennial herb growing tall. The mature plant has a large

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

deep. The stem is woody with several branches. The leaves are a few centimeters long and are divided into 3 to 7 narrow leaflets. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

atop each stem branch is a spike up to long containing many purple flowers. The fruit is a legume pod containing 1 or 2 seeds. The Latin specific epithet ''purpurea'' means purple.

Ecology

This plant is adapted to a habitat with periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

s. In some areas, it depends on fire to clear encroaching woody vegetation, as it cannot tolerate shade. ''Dalea purpurea'' is a common member of the flora on the plains of central North America, occurring in a variety of habitat types, including several types of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

. It occurs in

glade Glade may refer to: Computing * Glade Interface Designer, a GUI designer for GTK+ and GNOME Geography *Glade (geography), open area in woodland, synonym for "clearing" **Glade skiing, skiing amongst trees ;Places in the United States * Glade, Kan ...

s, riverbanks and

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s, oak woodlands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, shrubsteppe, many types of forests, and the Sand Hills of Nebraska. It occurs in a variety of

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s. On

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachm ...

it is associated with plants such as

little bluestem ''Schizachyrium scoparium'', commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a species of North American prairie grass native to most of the contiguous United States (except California, Nevada, and Oregon) as well as a small area north of t ...

(''Schizachyrium scoparium''),

big bluestem ''Andropogon gerardi'', commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot. Taxon ...

(''Andropogon gerardi''), prairie Junegrass (''Koeleria macrantha''),

prairie dropseed ''Sporobolus heterolepis'', commonly known as prairie dropseed, is a species of prairie grass native to the tallgrass and mixed grass prairies of central North America from Texas to southern Canada. It is also found further east, to the Atlant ...

(''Sporobolus heterolepis''), lead plant (''Amorpha canescens''), and silky aster (''Symphyotrichum sericeum''). On midgrass prairie it grows alongside several grasses such as silver bluestem (''Bothriochloa saccharoides''), purple threeawn (''Aristida purpurea''), sideoats grama (''Bouteloua curtipendula''), and sand dropseed (''Sporobolus cryptandrus''). On

shortgrass prairie The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss ('' Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domi ...

it is associated with grasses such as

blue grama ''Bouteloua gracilis'', the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season ( C4) perennial grass, native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta, Canada, east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and U.S ...

(''Bouteloua gracilis''),

hairy grama ''Bouteloua hirsuta'', commonly known as hairy grama, is a perennial short prairie grass that is native throughout much of North America, including the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies region, as well as Mexico and Guatemala Guatemala ( ...

(''B. hirsuta''), and

buffalo grass Buffalo grass may refer to * Buffalo grass, sweet vernal grass or vanilla grass ('' Anthoxanthum odoratum'') * Buffalo grass ('' Bouteloua dactyloides'') * Buffalo grass ('' Brachiaria mutica'') * Buffalo grass or sweet grass (''Hierochloe odorata' ...

(''B. dactyloides''). This species may be considered an

indicator Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health ...

of pristine prairie. The nectar and pollen of ''Dalea purpurea'' attract many bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and skippers. Several plasterer bees (genus ''

Colletes The genus ''Colletes'' (plasterer bees) is a large group of ground-nesting bees of the family Colletidae. They occur primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. They tend to be solitary, but sometimes nest close together in aggregations. Species i ...

'') are specialist pollinators of ''Dalea'' species, and other insects eat the seeds and leaves. It is a larval host to the

southern dogface ''Zerene cesonia'', the southern dogface, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae (until recently the species was sometimes placed in the related genus ''Colias'' instead of ''Zerene''). Description ...

(''Zerene cesonia'').

Uses

This species is used for

revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a lan ...

efforts on reclaimed land, such as land that has been strip mined. It is good for preventing

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

and for

fixing nitrogen Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. Atmos ...

in soil. Though it is often found in mid- to late-successional stages of ecological succession, it may also be a

pioneer species Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so ...

, taking hold in bare and disturbed habitat, such as roadsides. Purple prairie clover provides food for a number of animals, such as

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

. It also grows in cultivated fields and becomes included in

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

. It is nutritious and is "considered one of the most important legumes in native grasslands on the Great Plains." It also had a number of uses for Native Americans. The leaves are edible and good for making

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

and medicines, and the roots are palatable when chewed. The stems were used as

broom A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...

s by the

Pawnee people The Pawnee are a Central Plains Indian tribe that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. Today they are the federally recognized Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, who are headquartered in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Th ...

Medicinal plant

''Dalea purpurea'' has been found to contain several active constituents, including

pawhuskin A Pawhuskin A is a naturally occurring prenylated stilbene isolated from '' Dalea purpurea'' which acts as a competitive silent antagonist of the κ-, μ-, and δ-opioid receptors (Ke = 203 nM, 570 nM, and 2900 nM, respectively). The compound w ...

pawhuskin B Pawhuskin A is a naturally occurring prenylated stilbene isolated from '' Dalea purpurea'' which acts as a competitive silent antagonist of the κ-, μ-, and δ-opioid receptors (Ke = 203 nM, 570 nM, and 2900 nM, respectively). The compound w ...

pawhuskin C Pawhuskin A is a naturally occurring prenylated stilbene isolated from '' Dalea purpurea'' which acts as a competitive silent antagonist of the κ-, μ-, and δ-opioid receptors (Ke = 203 nM, 570 nM, and 2900 nM, respectively). The compound w ...

, and petalostemumol. The pawhuskins possess

affinity Affinity may refer to: Commerce, finance and law * Affinity (law), kinship by marriage * Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique * Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union * Affinity Equity Par ...

for the

opioid receptor Opioid receptors are a group of inhibitory G protein-coupled receptors with opioids as ligands. The endogenous opioids are dynorphins, enkephalins, endorphins, endomorphins and nociceptin. The opioid receptors are ~40% identical to somatostatin ...

s, and pawhuskin A, by far the most potent of the group, acts as a non-selective antagonist of all three opioid receptors, with preference for the κ- and

μ-opioid receptor The μ-opioid receptors (MOR) are a class of opioid receptors with a high affinity for enkephalins and beta-endorphin, but a low affinity for dynorphins. They are also referred to as μ(''mu'')-opioid peptide (MOP) receptors. The prototypical � ...

s over the

δ-opioid receptor The δ-opioid receptor, also known as delta opioid receptor or simply delta receptor, abbreviated DOR or DOP, is an inhibitory 7-transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor coupled to the G protein Gi/G0 and has enkephalins as its endogenous lig ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5210721 purpurea Flora of North America Medicinal plants of North America